talent

How Well Do You Represent Your Firm?

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Angry boss in chair staring down at tiny businessmanA cautionary case study.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

The Passport to Partnership study collated a number of responses in a conversational style. The main example that really stood out as the major indicator of a need for each future leader to be able to “convert” new business is showcased below and was repeated many times in various different ways.

If this person wants to be considered for partnership in the future, we look at how are they promoting the firm to potential clients now.

Meaning: If you’re trusted enough to represent the firm publicly, what perception are clients and potential clients getting about the firm based on their interactions with you?

MORE ON THE PASSPORT TO PARTNERSHIP: 6 Keys to the Perfect Proposal | What Conversion Really Means for Partners | The 4 Winning Communications Habits of Top Accountants | 12 Ways to Determine Your Competence | Sailing Through the Seven C’s to Partnership 

A case study

Michael had done well. His profile was rising as he became one of the firm’s leading “rainmakers” due to his natural ability to engage and gain the confidence of business owners and influencers alike.

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6 Keys to the Perfect Proposal

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Six vintage keysBONUS CHECKLIST: 7 things that trusted advisors don’t need to do.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

What makes a written proposal become accepted by the potential client – every time?

MORE ON THE PASSPORT TO PARTNERSHIP: What Conversion Really Means for Partners | Communication: Putting It All Together | The 4 Winning Communications Habits of Top Accountants | What Communication Really Means for Partners | What Culture Really Means for Partners | What Competence Really Means for Partners | Passport to Partnership: New Research Shows Wide Gap between Partners and Partners-To-Be

Proposal writing is a micro-science in its own right but here are the proven principles that it takes to get proposals accepted. READ MORE →

What Conversion Really Means for Partners

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Businesswoman in wheelchair meeting with potential clientBONUS CHECKLISTS: 9 business development metrics you should be measuring, plus the 7 biggest errors when trying to win new fees.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

Like it or not, the 21st century accountant is in the relationship-building business. When a qualified accountant learns the art of developing those relationships in such a way as they empower the practice to be able to forecast its new fee income each year, the accountant becomes a profit center and their value to the firm increases tenfold.

MORE ON THE PASSPORT TO PARTNERSHIP: Communication: Putting It All Together | The 4 Winning Communications Habits of Top Accountants | Gauge Firm Culture to Move Toward Partner | 12 Ways to Determine Your Competence | Passport to Partnership: New Research Shows Wide Gap between Partners and Partners-To-Be

Our fourth “C,” Conversion, has flirted with being the top answer from respondents in the Passport to Partnership study and has featured in over 80 percent of all firms interviewed as to what makes a senior manager stand out as a potential partner.

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NEW SURVEY RESULTS: ‘Decisiveness’ Rated Top Trait for Success in Accounting Business

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keys to success surveyFirst insights from “How to Succeed in the Accounting Business?” survey.

Join the survey; get more answers.

By Hitendra Patil

Although seven personality traits seem closely related to success as an entrepreneur in the tax and accounting business, the vast majority of accountants believe that one stands above all the rest in importance: Decisiveness.

Preliminary new findings from a CPA Trendlines survey of more than 300 accountants, more than 80 percent of them owners or CEOs of their firms, shows that the biggest success factors are not just knowledge, not just experience, not just problem-solving ability, and not just vision.

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Communication: Putting It All Together

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Confident businessman turning away from desk and smilingBONUSES: Exercises to define your worth and value, then communicate that message.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

An advisor is trusted when they can show that they

  • took responsibility for their end of the bargain in the client engagement,
  • educated the client of their responsibilities,
  • offered prompting and assistance throughout but then allowed the client to ultimately govern themselves in terms of following through on their commitments.

MORE ON THE PASSPORT TO PARTNERSHIP: Communication Can’t Be Overrated | The 4 Winning Communications Habits of Top Accountants | How to Read Your Firm’s Cultural Blueprint | Gauge Firm Culture to Move Toward Partner | What Culture Really Means for Partners | 12 Ways to Determine Your Competence | Passport to Partnership: New Research Shows Wide Gap between Partners and Partners-To-Be

This then empowers the advisor to make a commercial decision when the client now faces the consequences, as to whether they want to communicate even more assistance to make things all better for the clients and gain huge appreciation and emotional capital.

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Communication Can’t Be Overrated

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Businesspeople in Business Fighting

BONUS CHECKLIST: Case study and 5 questions on how well you do.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

The Passport to Partnership study collated a number of responses in a conversational style. Several examples really stood out as the first steps in effective communication:

Would we put this person in front of a client?

Meaning: The clients are our source of income; we don’t jeopardize that for anything. If we think that this person will do anything less than consolidate the perception of the firm and its people in the eyes of the client, we’ll keep them back in the office.

MORE ON THE PASSPORT TO PARTNERSHIP: Communication: It’s Not About You | The 4 Winning Communications Habits of Top Accountants | What Communication Really Means for Partners | Gauge Firm Culture to Move Toward Partner | What Culture Really Means for Partners | 12 Ways to Determine Your Competence | What Competence Really Means for Partners | Passport to Partnership: New Research Shows Wide Gap between Partners and Partners-To-Be

How does this person deal with those in support roles?

Meaning: Let’s never forget where we came from or labor under the misguided belief that because someone has less authority in the firm or a lower pay grade, they are somehow inferior to you.

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Communication: It’s Not About You

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Bissett
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BONUS: Three outlooks from our exclusive expert council: Pipe, Dobek, Grundy.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

What does communication mean at the partner level?

MORE ON THE PASSPORT TO PARTNERSHIP: The 4 Winning Communications Habits of Top Accountants | What Communication Really Means for Partners | How to Read Your Firm’s Cultural Blueprint | Gauge Firm Culture to Move Toward Partner | What Culture Really Means for Partners | Firm Culture Is Inevitable; Make It Work for You | 12 Ways to Determine Your Competence | What Competence Really Means for Partners | Sailing Through the Seven C’s to Partnership | Passport to Partnership: New Research Shows Wide Gap between Partners and Partners-To-Be

Ask yourself and answer these questions when considering the current and future communication tactics that you’ll employ.
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The 4 Winning Communications Habits of Top Accountants

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Value your clients – and yourself.

Component parts of how the other person perceives your in-person communication
Component parts of how the other person perceives your in-person communication

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

I’ve had the benefit of meeting, speaking and observing hundreds of very successful and unsuccessful partners over the last two decades and there is indeed a set of differentiating factors that set a partner apart from the chasing pack.

MORE PASSPORT TO PARTNERSHIP: What Communication Really Means for Partners | How to Read Your Firm’s Cultural Blueprint | Gauge Firm Culture to Move Toward Partner | What Culture Really Means for Partners | Firm Culture Is Inevitable; Make It Work for You | 12 Ways to Determine Your Competence | What Competence Really Means for Partners | Sailing Through the Seven C’s to Partnership | Passport to Partnership: New Research Shows Wide Gap between Partners and Partners-To-Be

Here are the four “best-selling behaviors” that I’ve observed:

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